Vermont Edition

Vermont Edition brings you news and conversation about issues affecting your life. Hosts Jane Lindholm and Bob Kinzel consider the context of current events through interviews with news makers and people who make our region buzz.

Vermont Edition brings you news and conversation about issues affecting your life. Hosts Jane Lindholm and Bob Kinzel consider the context of current events through interviews with news makers and people who make our region buzz.

Vermont Edition brings you news and conversation about issues affecting your life. Hosts Jane Lindholm and Bob Kinzel consider the context of current events through interviews with news makers and people who make our region buzz.

Episodes

Friday, Sept. 13 is World Sepsis Day . And while half of the world might be wondering why there's a World Sepsis Day, the other half is asking, "What is sepsis?" It's probably important to know that, globally, sepsis affects about 30 million people a year, killing between 6 and 9 million of them.

Ten presidential candidates gathered in Houston on Thursday for the third Democratic debate. We're talking with political scientists and campaign watchers to break down the debate, the policy issues they put forth and what it means for the field of Democratic candidates still seeking the party's nomination for the presidency.

It wasn't a typical first week at work: meet your colleagues, get settled in, confirm the existence of a new planet about 900 trillion miles from earth. But for physics and astronomy professor Elisabeth Newton, that's exactly how she started her new job at Dartmouth College earlier this year.

The nights are getting cooler and our Vermont summer is quickly coming to an end. So as you’re reaping the rich harvest of a plentiful vegetable garden right now, and preparing and canning for the long winter, it's also a great time to think about saving seeds. We'll learn how the home gardener can harvest seeds from their current crop of veggies.

In the new episode of Brave Little State , author Paul Gillies said Vermont Place-Names by Esther Munroe Swift is a "go-to" resource for his research. And when Mitch Wertlieb hosted a series on Morning Edition a few years ago searching for the origins of Vermont town names, he and producer Melody Bodette relied heavily on Swift's well-loved and respected tome.

Art is a vital part of human culture. But when was the last time you actually engaged with art? What role does art play in our culture, our public discourse and in tackling the important issues affecting our communities, nations and planet? If your answers are fuzzy, you're not alone. We're talking about our rough relationship with contemporary art and how we engage with art today.

In its new episode, Brave Little State takes on more of your questions about mysterious Green Mountain byways in its Second Annual Brief History of Vermont Road Names. Vermont Edition hears what VPR's intrepid reporters found as they sought the origins of some of the state's spiciest-sounding road names.

The opioid crisis claims thousands of lives every year in the United States. Distinctions between oxycontin, heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl are sadly all too common to Vermonters. We're talking with the authors of a new book, Opium: How An Ancient Flower Shaped And Poisoned Our World , about what the history of the drug can tell us about today's addiction and overdose crisis.

With the recent approval of double-digit rate hikes for the state's two major health care insurers — Blue Cross/Blue Shield and MVP Health Care — by the Green Mountain Care Board, many in Vermont are concerned. We'll hear about what's driving these cost increases and some possible solutions for reigning in the rising cost of health care.

Economists are starting to warn that the United States may slide into recession sometime in 2020 or 2021. Few got through the 2008 recession unscathed — so as politicians and economists start to ramp up speculation about what the next recession might look like, where's the line between smart planning and panic?

If you're looking for a Vermont-made beverage to quench your thirst, you could drown in options: craft beer, locally-distilled spirits and even Vermont-made sodas. You can increasingly add craft cider to the mix. We're talking about all things hard cider and the growing popularity of the centuries-old drink.

So much attention is focused on Lakes Champlain and Memphremagog - with good reason - that it's easy to forget that Vermont has more than 800 other lakes and ponds. Each with its own charms and challenges. Vermont Edition focuses on these oft-overlooked bodies of water in the state.

It was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. But the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg proved to be both the turning point of the war, and a battle in which Vermont soldiers played a pivotal role. We're listening back to a conversation which first aired in 2017 with historian Howard Coffin about the role of Vermonters at Gettysburg and other battles in the Civil War.

Vermont is now among 34 states that may at some point see a Blue Alert. Similar to the Amber Alert network which rapidly publicizes a missing children, Blue Alerts are triggered when a broad group of law enforcement officers — from police to judges to Corrections officers — are injured or killed in the line of duty, and a suspect remains at large or a danger to the community.

There have been 20 traffic crash fatalities in Vermont so far this year. That's down from 41 at this point last year. While highway safety officials are hopeful that the number remains low this year, they have other important concerns about our driving habits . We'll talk about those on Vermont Edition .

Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for All" health care plan has become a key issue in the Democratic presidential race. VPR's Bob Kinzel joined Vermont Edition to discuss why some candidates have started to distance themselves from the plan.

More Americans than ever have tattoos, with a recent Harris Poll survey finding three in ten adults are inked. Shifting attitudes toward tattoos are leading to changes in hiring practices, like a new Vermont State Police policy giving officer ink the stamp of approval, provided the tattoo is covered when in uniform. We're talking about changing attitudes around tattoos and what they mean today.

The federal Title X family planning program provides reproductive health care to low-income and uninsured families. We'll hear about the state's recent decision to fill the $800,000 gap that now exists for Planned Parenthood funding after a recent policy change by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Pownal select board met this month to discuss a proposed junk ordinance to regulate salvage yards, waste disposal and junk vehicles. One person's junk is another's treasure, or so the saying goes. But where do we draw the line when it comes to public displays of those so-called treasures?